People across India browse catalogues, look for coupons and offers, and ship goods and gifts off during Diwali. Diwali, the season of lights, is a time of joy and happiness when people love buying gifts and presents for their loved ones. This creates several challenges for eCommerce supply chains.
Online shopping in India rose by 72% during the festive season in 2022, as per recent statistics from the Indian Ministry of Commerce and Industry. However, it might be over ten times more difficult to complete orders, meet deadlines, and transport goods during the festive period. Hence, having an agile supply chain is vital to meet all the demand and commotion during this season.
Let’s explore how Diwali affects supply chains and the steps you can take to prevent or minimise the effects of several challenges during the festive season.
Here’s how Diwali, one of the biggest and most celebrated festivals in India, affects businesses and operations:
Listed below are the major problems that arise within supply chains during Diwali:
It is extremely difficult to understand what items will sell quickly and what is considered out-of-date during the festive season. What sold well last year might not sell with the same gusto this year.
This causes businesses to examine and scrutinise their inventory and see if they can meet the rising consumer demand. Empty shelves hurt the sales rate and brand reputation; thus, ensuring that products are available at the right time and place in adequate quantity is crucial for businesses.
Delivery efficiency makes or breaks an order completion process. During Diwali, the rhythm of escalating orders is extremely rapid, and meeting delivery schedules imposes a big challenge. The orders can be hindered due to environmental factors or even route blocks due to the festivities. Only 20% of warehousing is organised, and 70% of the organised market is controlled by the government.
This results in overburdening the logistics crew. The festival times are when everyone wants to indulge in festivities; hence, the safety of warehouses and other areas also becomes a major concern. Sudden issues, bad climate, overloading, and theft can all result in unpredicted losses.
Here are some of the most effective strategies to ensure that your supply chain is agile and capable of handling the increasing customer demand during Diwali:
Hence, preparing your processes well in advance can be advantageous to avoid communication issues. Maintaining positive relationships with outsiders and within the organisation is crucial for smooth and efficient running.
The right logistics management makes it easier for buyers to track things down and streamline their administration processes, leading to satisfied buyers.
Customer reports and feedback also give businesses insightful data to make these decisions. The danger of running out of stock will be minimised by ensuring you have a well-planned supply chain process and deliver orders on time to the consumers, leading to greater satisfaction rates.
Diwali is one of the best times for businesses to attract clients and touch unknown clientele bases. In the current Indian market, there are a ton of brand enthusiasts and switchers. Companies create various strategies to draw in brand lovers and retain brand switchers. Given that India has the most significant percentage of brand switchers, the festive season presents a competitive opportunity for your business to attract new customers.
Diwali brings new challenges in business operations and SCM that can never be anticipated. Through proper planning and strategy deployment well in advance, businesses can easily cater to the dynamic needs and new trends that the customers put forth every year during this time.
A supply chain involves the production and distribution of a product. It begins with purchasing raw materials from a supplier and ends with delivering the final product to the customer.
Supply chain management has several functions. The five major ones are purchasing, logistics, operations, information workflow, and resource management.
Supply chains in India face several challenges. The significant ones include materials scarcity, transportation restrictions, infrastructure challenges, regulatory restrictions, limited access to credit, etc.
Several items sell more on Diwali. These include candles, lights, lamps, puja items, handicraft items, home decor items, sweets, dry fruits, etc.
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